Weighing the Options of Johny Hendricks

In advance of his Saturday night bout with Stephen Thompson, former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks was pegged as a sizable betting favorite. As we now know, however, Thompson would spring the upset in the most emphatic way possible, pummeling his decorated foe to a first-round knockout win.

The unexpected knockout marked the first stoppage loss of Hendricks' 21-fight career, and pushed him to a tough 2-3 in his last 5 fights. Needless to say, he now finds himself on precarious terrain the likes of which he has never before traversed as a pro mixed martial artist.

Of course, Hendricks remains a staple of the UFC welterweight top-10, and is still just 32 years old. While his standing certainly took a hit at the hands—and feet—of Thompson, the former champ still has the time and skill required to bounce back. And if his post-fight interview with Jon Anik was any indication, he's feeling fairly optimistic about his chances of doing so.

"I'll be back," he told Anik. "I'll get better. It's a new start, you've just got to move forward."

So, looking forward, where does Hendricks go from here?

Considering Hendricks' last 5 fights have seen him take on a murderer's row of Georges St. Pierre, Robbie Lawler (twice), Matt Brown, and most recently Thompson, it would not be surprising to see him get a bit of a step down in competition. This is not to suggest a trip outside the welterweight top-15, but perhaps a trip to the outer half of that top-15.

In such an event, the ex-champ might share the Octagon with a fighter like Dong Hyun Kim, who has long resided on the outer edge of title contention. Similarly, Hendricks might be paired with the young Kelvin Gastelum who, after a close loss to Neil Magny in November, will be looking to get back on track in the near future. Finally, Hendricks could also be paired with Rick Story, the first man he ever lost to. Story's last fight saw him burst back into relevance by defeating Gunnar Nelson, and though injuries have kept him out of action since then, he'll soon be ready for a comeback. At this stage, a rematch with an old foe in Hendricks would make a good deal of sense for that comeback.

Of course, Hendricks' unshakable competitiveness and status as a former titleholder probably nixes the possibility of any real step down in competition. Instead, he'll probably get another big name in his next bout.

He might, for example, mix it up with Rory MacDonald, who currently holds the welterweight division's top spot—behind champion Robbie Lawler, of course. MacDonald recently came up short in an unforgettable firefight with Lawler and, now that his resulting injuries are almost healed, he'll soon be looking to get back on the horse. In this regard, there are few choices more suitable for the Canadian than Hendricks—one of the few elite welterweights he has not yet fought.

Hendricks' high-profile options don't end there. He might also, for example, be penciled in for a bout with Nick Diaz who, after a ridiculous snafu with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, is poised for a comeback sometime in August. In Hendricks, Diaz would get just the kind of big-name opponent he's after, and a reasonable welcome back after more than a year and a half on the shelf. Furthermore, Diaz has had plenty of choice words for Hendricks in the past—most famously heckling him at the UFC 171 weigh ins—so, their prospective showdown would also come with some built-in beef.

And then, building on the theme of fighters making comebacks, there's the long-rumored return of welterweight great Georges St. Pierre. Should St. Pierre emerge from his retirement, there would be few choices more appealing for him than a bout with Hendricks. He did, after all, defeat Hendricks by a very thin margin in a 2013 title fight—a split verdict that is still debated to this day. The two welterweight greats have a score to settle, and the combination of St. Pierre's long layoff and Hendrick's recent slump render their rematch as sensible as ever.

Of course, if Hendricks is really after a fresh start, as he suggested in his post-fight interview with Jon Anik, he may even turn his attention to the middleweight division. After missing weight for a proposed bout with Tyron Woodley back in October, it looked like a jump to middleweight was in the cards for him. And though he seemed to have his weight very much under control for his bout with Thompson, middleweight still remains a viable choice for the ex-champ, whose out-of-camp weight as allegedly ballooned north of 220 pounds in the past. Not sold? Well, consider a middleweight pairing of Hendricks and Dan Henderson, two talented wrestlers with C-4 packed into their fists, and your opinion is likely to change.

After the thrashing he received from Thompson, it's hard to say if Hendricks is capable of reclaiming the welterweight throne. While his talent remains irrefutable, his Saturday night loss was as one-sided as they come, and will require some real tenacity to rebound from. All that being said, however, Hendricks still possesses the skills to give any welterweight—and even some middleweights—a run for their money. That means that, even in spite of his shocking loss to Thompson, he's got plenty of exciting options ahead of him.